When John Paley, general manager of Studio City radio station KIRN-AM (670), started a series of programs about cancer, he didn’t expect to become one of the statistics discussed on the air.

But several weeks ago, Paley was diagnosed with prostate cancer and has since begun radiation treatment. He explained his condition to the station’s listeners on a Dec. 4 program.

“This series has been ongoing for several years, but it became very personal this year,” he said. “Your emotions take over when your doctor says that dreaded word – cancer. But I said, ‘What an opportunity to do what the FCC requires and serve the public interest.’ ”

KIRN, also known as Radio Iran, reaches an estimated 103,000 Farsi speakers in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The audience is highly educated and affluent, but older – a prime population for cancer.

Paley said that in ethnic communities, including the Persian community, there’s a cultural aversion to talking about cancer. He’s determined to change that.

“Everybody is terrified of cancer, but we have knocked down that taboo and gotten people more willing to talk about it,” he said. “Before the program, my daughter and son both asked me, ‘Are you prepared to face people when they ask questions?’ I said yes.”

In keeping with the Federal Communications Commission mandate to serve the public interest, Paley plans to keep talking about cancer on the air, as well as raise money for the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Hospital through the radio station and its website.